National Apprenticeship Week: Young Hebden Bridge butcher shaking up the 'boys club'
and live on Freeview channel 276
A recent report found that only a third of the global meat industry workforce are female, while in the UK just one in ten butchers are women.
But a Calderdale apprentice is one of those changing that.
Twenty six-year-old Helena Akroyd has excelled in her role with Craggies Farm Shop, near Hebden Bridge.
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Hide AdHelena has just completed her Leeds City College apprenticeship and has been put forward for an industry award this year.
Her route into the trade was an unconventional one: “Whilst completing my degree I had a part time job working at Craggies in the cafe department, but when Covid hit and the hospitality industry had to close down I got transferred into the farm shop.
“That’s when I found my love for butchery.
"My employers could see how passionate I was and thought it would be a good idea for me to complete an apprenticeship to develop my skills and knowledge, which going to college definitely did.
“As I am working within a historically male dominated industry it is down to butchers like me to prove that we are as good as any male, and that it doesn’t matter what gender you are; if you put your mind to it you can succeed in anything.”
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Hide AdHer mentor at Craggies Farm Shop, Thomas Mellor, has been delighted by Helena’s contribution.
He said: “Helena has had a huge influence on Craggies as a whole and we wouldn’t have had the same growth without her. She has shown incredible development over her time with us.”